


If I can't have you

by Vkookmin1 (orphan_account)



Category: Grey's Anatomy
Genre: Blood and Gore, Car Accidents, Graphic Description of Injuries, M/M, Major Character Injury
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-12
Updated: 2019-06-17
Packaged: 2020-03-02 07:56:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 6,459
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18806950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/Vkookmin1
Summary: Nick and Levi's relationship gets put to the test when disaster strikes





	1. Chapter 1

It had been a long day for Levi Schmitt. A collision between two lorries had resulted in a pile up on the highest and as a result series of major traumas had started heading into Grey Sloan memorial hospital and the interns had been kept on their feet. When they could finally stop, another patient would arrive and the process would start all over again.

What Levi was most concerned about was a young boy who had just arrived at the hospital. His parents car has been hit by a lorry trying to avoid the pile up. His parents had been killed instantly but the boy was still alive with multiple broken bones and lacerations. What drew Levi to this boy, however, had been how much he reminded Levi of himself when he had been that age. Quiet, nerdy. The type of person who say in the back of the class and was such overlooked. 

That's how Levi found himself sitting with this boy, Lucas, for the past hour, allowing him to cry into his shoulder and grieve for the parents that he had lost at such a young age. It was at this point, one half of the hospitals ortho God duo made themselves known by sticking his head around the curtain that surrounded Lucas' bed. 

' Your boyfriend planning on making an appearance anytime soon Levi? I paved him over an hour ago and the cases that need to be looked at by ortho are beginning to pile up,' Linc grumbled quietly, conscious of the young boy sniffling into Levi's shoulder. 

'He's still not in? I texted him over a hour ago and he said he was on his way. Are you sure you haven't just missed him in the corridor?' Levi whispered back, one hand running circles into Lucas's back while the other went to his back pocket of his head in search of his phone. Pulling it out, he flicked it on to find the selfie Nick had taken of himself and saved as Levi's lockscreen staring back at him. 

'I've got nothing from him, Link. Do you think something's happened to him?'

'Right now, I really don't know kid'

'Dr Lincoln, Dr Bailey sent me. She said an ambulance is on its way in with one of ours' Helm said, looking as pale as a sheet. Levi tried to catch her eye, wanting, no needing to know who of their own was. Needing the reassurance that it wasn't Nico.

'Helm, who is it? Who's hurt?'

'Nico, sir. And they said it's not looking good.'


	2. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The reality of recent events sink in. Can Levi cope?

Levi's feet pounded the floor of the corridors as he raced from Lucas's room on the third floor down to the ambulance bay. All that he could think was 'Nico's hurt. Nico needs me'. How could he have been so stupid? He knew that Nico came across that highway. Knew that there were still cars that continued to crash into the pile up, unable to see due to early morning fog and unable to stop due to the rain that Seattle had seen last night. 

The elevator was taking too long so Levi took the stairs , taking two at a time. He took a moment to consider the irony that this had been the most physical exercise he had had in a while and allowed a small smile at the thought that Nico would have been proud of him if he had been here. 

When he made it to the emergency room, he discovered that Helm had timed it perfectly when taking him about Nico. An ambulance was in the bay and the body of an unconscious male with dark hair was being unloaded. Levi knew, even at the other end of the ER that this was his boyfriend and darted his way across the room to him.

He would later deny this but as soon as he saw Nico up close, he almost fainted. All he could see was blood coating Nico's face and body, his right leg twisted at such an angle that Levi had to wonder if he would ever be able to walk on that leg again. His arms were not much better, the bone of the right arm having broken the skin of the forearm. 

'Levi! Jesus Christ, Nico!'

Levi could faintly heat Linc in the background, could feel him move forward to help transfer Nico from the ambulance. He started when they rolled the Burney past him and into the emergency room, throwing instructions left and right. He followed, not daring to let Nico out of his sight. That he being there was the only thing keeping Nico on this earth and by not being there, he would be more responsible than he already felt. 

'Dr Schmitt? Dr Schmitt, look at me!' Levi turned his head to look blankly at the Chief of surgery. 'You are going to be no good to Dr Kim by standing here and looking like a puppy who lost their bone. Go to your locker, get changed and then go to the family room. I'll send someone up to be with you when we can spare them.'

Levi couldn't make it to the family room. He changed in the locker room not feeling anything but something that he had never felt before. Fear. Sure he has felt fear before like when he broke both his arms or when he had been forced to be the rubber in the school sports day and had feared the laughter and ridicule of his classmates. This was a different type of fear. Fear of loving and losing someone. Losing Nico when their relationship was still so new to him and knowing he had barely attached the surface of his feelings for the ortho fellow. His knees went from under him and he slid to the floor, the corner of the locker digging into his back and wept. Wept while only two floors down, his boyfriend was fighting to stay alive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2 guys. Hope you enjoy


	3. Chapter 3

Levi didn't know how long he sat in the locker room, knees curled to his chest so he could hide his face in them like when he had been five and hide from a thunderstorm in his wardrobe. His mum had found him two hours later at the back of the confined space muttering to himself that it would all be over soon. Here he was, twenty years later doing the exact same thing. 

While this little mantra had been going around Levi's head, Taryn had slipped quietly into the room and sat down next to him. For once, she didn't try and fill the silence, seeming to know that Levi would simply prefer her mere presence rather than her usual noise. Instead, she pulled a wad of tissues out of the pocket of her scrubs and handed them to Levi, who took them and began to dab at his streaming eyes. 

He didn't know how long they stayed like that, just that they were interrupted by the arrival of the other interns who spilled in through the door but stopped short when they saw Levi and Taryn on the floor. 

'Oh God. What's happened?' Dahlia said, the confusion clear in her voice. It was obvious that the news of Nico had yet to get around the hospital. 

'He's probably gone and one upped himself by dropping something worse than his glasses in a patient and is about to have his ass handed to him.' One of the other interns managed to snigger out. 

'Oh shut up Fred. Like you're having a good day. I saw you with the laceration girl in the ER. You couldn't even stitch that up. At least Levi can actually do his job.' Casey snapped. 

Levi gave a watery smile to Casey as he and Dahlia ushered the other interns out despite the protest that this was just as much their space. Dahlia then pulled a blanket out of the storage cupboard and wrapped it around the still crying Levi while Casey unlocked his locker and started to pull crisps and chocolate out. 

Taking the food that Casey held out, Levi could feel Dahlia glancing over at him, clearly wondering what had got him so upset that he had been reduced to a weeping mess on the floor of the locker room. 

'It's Nico,' was so that he managed before bursting into fresh tears. A soft gasp was heard, whether it was from Dahlia or Casey Levi was not sure but the one thing he was sure of was the three sets of arms that surrounded him. That made him feel safe and cared for.

'You want me to tell them everything?' Taryn asked knowing that Levi would struggle. He nodded silently and listened as she explained how Nico had gotten caught up in the pile up. How broken he had been when he had been brought in by the ambulance. 

'Has anyone told you anything since he was brought in Levi?'

He shook his head. 'I haven't come out since Bailey told me to come up here and get changed,' he shocked out. He hadn't even managed some basic instructions. 'h god, she told me to go to the family room after changing, what if someone went there looking for me and I wasn't there. They'll think that I abandoned him. That i ran at the dust sign of trouble. Oh god , oh god, oh god.' Levi could feel himself panicking, on the verge of hyperventilating. His friends voices were faint in the background, their voices just white noise. And then there was a new voice, several voices in fact. There was a female telling everyone to back off and give him space. That had to be Dr Bailey. Great, he was making a fool of himself in front of the Chief of Surgery. There was another voice that sounded like Link and he could vaguely make out a blond haired figure crouching in front of him. Oh god, there was red on the front of Links scrubs.His training told him that it must have been bad. Orthopaedic surgeons having that much blood on their scrubs was bad and Levi knew that he to be Nicos blood as Link was the only other orthopaedic surgeon on shift. That knowledge sent him spiralling deeper and deeper into what seemed to be a never ending tunnel of darkness. He felt arms pick him up in an attempt to move him. Why were they trying to move him? He remembered being told that it was a bad idea, yet he was being moved whilst in the middle of a panic attack.

His surroundings changed from the bright and harsh lighting of the interns locker room to a dimmer room with what seemed to be the rhythmic sound s of machines that he usually associated with patients rooms in ICU while doing a night shift.

Eventually, his breaths began to slow after what felt like an age and when his vision came into focus, his eyes took in the scene in front of him. Jo was staring down at a chart, glancing at the monitors every few seconds to double check what she was writing in the charts. Link was curled up like a cat next to him, cheek squashed into his hand as he slept. Why was he here? Why had he been brought here of all places in the large hospital? Then his brain caught up with the rest of his body and he saw who was lying in that bed. It was Nico and the rhythmic and reassuring noise he could hear was the sound of Nico's heartbeat.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi gets the talking to that he needs

'I was thinking of holding some sort of coronation to crown myself '

Is all that sleep deprivation going to your head Levi? Crown yourself king of what? Seattle Grace? Cause I'm sure that Bailey would love to take you up on that challenge.' 

'King of the ICU ward of course!'

Of course, Levis bad luck continued to prevail as it was at this moment that the Cheif decided to stick his head through the door of the room.

'Dr Helm, a minute please?'

Taryn quickly stood up, smoothing down the wrinkles in her scrubs before following Alex out into the hallway

'Do I need to be concerned about Dr Schmitt at all, Dr Helm? Because I'm already down an orthopaedic fellow and it would be nice to not lose an intern on top of that, especially one like Schmitt.'

'Honestly, sir, I think he's going a bit stir crazy. He won't leave Nico in the state that he's in because he's afraid that something will happen. He's barely eating the food Link and I bring him and I don't think he's sleeping much either.' Helm confessed, glancing in through the window to watch Levi take hold of Nico's limp hand while looking close to tears.

'Yeah. Hunt told me before he told the rest of you lot. He's got a long way to go if he ever wakes up.'

Helm felt a shiver go down her spine as she recalled that meeting. How Hunt explained the severe trauma that Nico's body had endured and was still enduring. How there had been severe internal bleeding caused by the insoles shrapnel that had almost been impossible to stop. How the bleed in his brain could have killed him.How his leg and arm bones had been so broken that it had taken Link almost five hours to repair the damage. How there was still no guarantee that he could walk again let alone work again as a surgeon. His chances of surviving were next to none. 

But yet Levi held out hope. Hope that Nick would wake up. Hope that Nico could learn to walk again. Hope that the love and support that Levi would be offering at every step of Nico's recovery would be enough. 

But so far there has been no such luck. Taryn and Alex watched through the window as Levi pulled a tissue from his pocket and blew into it.

'I should probably get in there and get him out before he becomes a walking contamination zone.'

You do that. Tell me if there's any change at all.' 

'Yes sir.' 

As Taryn opened the door, Levi looked at her with his best watery puppy dog eyes and Taryn felt her heart shatter. Her heart told her that Levi was too kind to be suffering this kind of pain and that she should wrap him in a blanket and shield him from the world until Nico recovered enough to take over. Because that would be more of a boyfriend role than a best friend in her book.

But for now, all she could do was to go against her heart and pull a protesting, crying Levi from the room. His cries of how he shouldn't be leaving Nico on his own in case something went wrong. After 5 minutes of looking like she should have her licence revoked, she achieved in getting Levi to the cafeteria and sitting him down at at Table with Casey and Dahlia. 

'I'm going to go and get some food for us. Keep an eye on him you two and make sure he doesn't try and leg it back to the boyfriend.'

'Aye, aye Captain' Casey replied with a small smile before turning his attention to Levi who was sitting with his head held low and seemed to be paying more attention to his hands than his friends. 

'Levi?' Casey heard Dahlia whisper and he watched as Levi lifted his head up to look at her with watery eyes. 

'I know what you are going through is something that No one should have to do. Watching someone you love suffer means that you put them first but it does not mean that you can abandon yourself to whatever happens. Nico needs you now more than ever but you can't be there for him if you wont eat or sleep properly. So what you are going to do is eat whatever Taryn bring back and puts in front of you. Then you are going to go home with Casey and have a shower, get a good few hours sleep and get some clean clothes in. And before you protest about Nico being alone, we've got that covered. Everyone has signed up to sit with Nico on their breaks and we've scheduled it so that everyone s breaks overlap and they take over directly from whoever is with him. Is that clear?' 

Levi nodded and have Dahlia a small smile. His friends were with him and that was all that mattered. He and Nico were not going through this alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is anyone actually enjoying this story because I have a lot of silent readers and I'm unsure if you like what I'm doing


	5. Chapter 5

It was five in the morning when Levi thought he heard something. He'd been curled up in a chair by Nico's bed, head curled around Nico's limp one when he heard it. He hadn't been sure at first if he's actually heard but a few seconds later, there was another slightly louder noise. And it was coming from Nico. Levi rubbed the sleep from his eyes hoping that what he thought was happening was actually happening. 

The next thing he knew, Nico's eyes slowly peeled open and a groan of pain escaped him. Levi could see the confusion in his eyes and the pure and utter panic that appeared when he realised where he was. His eyes started roaming the room frantically, looking for something that was familiar. Levi pressed the nurses button and moved into Nico's line of vision before he started to move the rest of his body and cause further damage.

When his eyes landed on Levi, the relief that flooded them sent a wave of calm through Levi. He still remembered him. The brain damage that they had all been worried about was not there. He was okay in that sense at least.

Before he knew it, the room was flooded with people, Amelia and Link among them. 'How you holding up, Nico?' Link said from the end of the bed, affection clear in his voice, while Amelia ran several checks on his friend. 'Like hell,' Nico groaned back. 

'Well, there seems to be no serious damage, so I'll be able to get some pain relief sorted out for you.' Amelia said, nodding to one of the nurses to administer it. As Amelia said this, Levi saw Nico's features tighten in pain and knew that the pain of the many injuries Nico had sustained were starting to take their toll. 

As the pain relief worked its way into Nico's system, Levi slipped his hands into Nico's and have it a light squeeze. Nico turned his head towards him and have him a weak smile. 'Hey babe,' he said. 

Levi responded with a weak punch to his forearm, one of the only areas of Nico's body that wasn't injured and muttered back 'Don't you dare scare me like that again, Nico Kim, or I swear to god that I will break up with you.' 

'You wouldn't dare. You love me too much for that.'

'Just try me Nico, just try me.'

'Alright, lovebirds, let's break up the gooey doe eyes for a second. I need to borrow my fellow for a minute,' Link smoothly interrupted. When Levi opened his mouth to protest, he jumped in with 'Don't you worry your pretty little head, Schmitt, it's just going to be a few routine checks to make sure Nico here is going to be okay for physiotherapy in a few weeks because unless I sign off on him, your boy is going to be stuck here for a long time and to be quite frank, I need my top fellow back with me. I'm pulling less girls and too be quite frank, I don't like it.'

'Don't you have a hot neurosurgeon to be pursuing or was that just something that my mind dreamed up for me while I was out?'

'True, true, now stop getting me to avoid the subject and let me hit you for a reason.'

As Link poked and prodded to test his handiwork, Levi backed to the corner of the room to give them space and watched as they teased each other relentlessly. Nic o seemed happy, his eyes drifting over to Levi every few minutes as if to ensure that he was still there and hadn't abandoned him. Levi sent him reassuring smiles and breathed a sigh of relief. Things could only be looking up from here.


	6. Chapter 6

He was fine. He was sitting and talking like nothing had happened. Like he hadn't been involved in a life threatening car crash less than a week ago. But Nico couldn't fool Levi. Levi who spotted when he winced as he shifted in his bed. Levi who noticed when he tended as Link examined the cage that surrounded his leg, keeping his bone straight. Levi who would gently wake him up and hold him when he had cried out in his sleep and let him soak the material of his jacket as he cried. 

God, he knew he was lucky. Many would kick a guy while he was down and just leave him alone for the ride. He still remembered Billy, one of the football players back in high school who was diagnosed with cancer just a few weeks before prom. His girlfriend, Anna, had dumped him almost as soon as he told her and to make it even worse for him, she turned up to the prom on the arm of his best friend. But Levi wasn't like Anna. Levi had stayed while Anna had ran. Levi loved him, even though he had never said those words out loud, he loved him, Nico Kim, enough to stay with him in the hard guy. God did he love the small, clumsy intern curled up on a chair next to time. But perhaps the snoring made him love home just slightly less. 

He was tracing patterns into Levi's hand, which had been resting on the bed, when he heard the creak of the door. He looked up to see Taryn and Dahlia slipping into the room. He gave them a small smile as they crept their way over to where a sleeping Levi lay. They gently picked him up between them and with a quick glance and nod directed towards Nico before leaving the room. They were probably going to get him home and in his own bed, which was probably a good idea in Nico's book. He lay, staring at the ceiling for a few minutes, before allowing himself to drift into a dream less sleep. 

 

Levi woke up to discover that he was not where he has fallen asleep. All the things his mum had taught him as a young boy about kidnappings and abductions ran through his mid, terrifying the word out of him until Taryn hustled into the room, holding a breakfast tray that smelled like Levi's idea of heaven. As Taryn set the tray down on the bed that Levi occupied, he took the opportunity to take in his surroundings at which point he realised that they were not as unfamiliar as he has initially believed. In fact, he recognised where he was, having slept here on a number of occasions. 

'Taryn, my dear and wonderful friend, care to explain to me why I'm currently in my boyfriends bed despite having fallen asleep in the chair next to his bed.'

'Long story short, my midget friend, is that Dahlia, Casey and I decided that the best way to get you to stop trying to outstink the Yetis was to kidnap you and bring you here, purely out of convenience because it's so close to the hospital.' 

Levi pulled a face at Taryn, an action that he knew was childish, before grabbing the first food item that his hand can into contact with off the tray, which happened to be a croissant, that judging by the temperature, was fresh from the oven. Letting out a shriek of pain, Levi dropped the croissant to the bed getting crumbs all over the duvet, something that Nico would kill him over if he ever found out about it, and providing Taryn with the opportunity to let out a cackle of laughter that Levi was sure that she saved especially for haunting him in his nightmares. As she wiped the tears from her eyes, her phone chimed with an incoming message. Levi watched her as she pulled it from her back pocket and watch her gave drain of colour.


	7. Chapter 7

Levi didn't react initially when he saw Taryn's face. He sat there for a few seconds, his mind racing through the endless possibilities of what could have occurred to make his friend react like that. His mind kept falling back to Nico but his boyfriend had been fine the last time that he had seen him, laughing and smiling. And even then, Amelia had said that his scans were fine and that there was nothing internally that they needed to be concerned about. But he knew it had to be about Nico. Nothing would have made the blood drain from Taryn's face that fast and have her look at him with sympathy clear in her eyes. 

Before Taryn could register what he had planned, he launched himself across the bed, arm outstretched out in an attempt to grab her phone. Unfortunately, his athletic prowess decided to make an appearance and he tumbled over the edge of the bed, having gotten his feet tangled in the sheets of the bed. Cursing as he attempted to untangle his feet, he saw Taryn power down her phone, slip it into her back pocket and, with a large sigh, walk over and help him get back onto his feet. 

'Taryn, please tell me what happened. I know it's about Nico so please don't try and lie to me.'

'The thought never even crossed my mind,' she responded dryly. Levi poked his tongue out at her, his gratis lighting up for a split second before a serious expression came over them. 

'Please, Taryn, just tell me. No joking about it or dodging around the topic. Just tell me.'

'I'm sorry Levi, but I honestly think that I shouldn't be the one to tell you. I mean, I haven't even got all of the information. Casey texted me and that's all that I know. Don't you dare walk out on me Levi Schmitt.'

This last part was spoken to Levi's back as he marched to the door and yanked it open. He could hear Taryn's footsteps behind him and her voice calling out to him, although what she was saying was unclear to him. He slipped into his shoes and moved to take his car keys before they were swiped out of his hands.

'Taryn, what the hell?' He could hear himself saying before he felt himself getting bundled into his smal, battered Ford Fiesta. Taryn slid into the drivers seat and as the engine was turned on, stated 'As if I would place my life in your hands and let you drive to the hospital in this state. I value my life far too much for that.' Levi didn't respond, just watched her put the car in gear and pull out of the driveway. 

By the time they reached the hospital, Levi was becoming frantic again. He opened the car door and leapt out of the car before Taryn had a chance to pull the car to a stop. He could hear Taryn calling him again but the only noise that was filling his ears was the sound of his trainers on the floor as he ran into the hospital and traced the familiar route back up to Nico's room. 

As he got closer he could hear shouting and the sound of people running. He reached the door in time to see Nico's bed getting transported out of the room and wheeled off in the direction of the OR. For a brief second, he caught a glimpse of Nico and his knees almost bucked. His boyfriend was pale and seemed to be a completely different person from the man who had been laughing with him just a few hours before hand He made a move to follow them before a pair of arms grabbed him. He struggled against the arms before twisting round to see Link looking at him with tear filled eyes. Before Levi had a chance to even open his mouth, Link jumped in with 'I'm sorry Levi, he had a seizure. A bad one. We have a serious problem on our hands.'


	8. Chapter 8

Levi felt numb. It been only an hour since Taryn had received that fateful text and he had raced to the hospital. An hour since he saw the love of his life getting wheeled towards an OR looking lifeless. A hour since he had felt the most terrifying emotion he had felt in all of his twenty six years. The fear of losing a loved one. He wasn't prepared for being the strong one in their relationship, both physically and mentally. 

But the overriding feeling was guilt. Guilt that he wasn't there when his boyfriend had needed him. That when Nico had looked for someone to hold his hand and tell him that everything would be okay, he was sleeping away in his boyfriend's bed without a care in the world. This guilt dominated his thoughts, tuning out anyone who tried to comfort him. He didn't need comforting. He hadn't been the one to suddenly start to seize. But no one seemed to understand.

He'd been staring at the swirling pattern of the floor for at least 10 minutes when he felt something hot being pressed into his hand and his other hand coming up automatically to secure it. He glanced at the object in his hand to reveal a steaming cup of hot chocolate and then his eyes shifted to the person who had placed it in his hands. An exhausted looking Atticus Lincoln was looking at him with a ghost of a small smile. Levi returned the smile before shifting his gaze back to the floor and taking a small sip of the hot chocolate, taking care to not burn his tongue. He barely registered Link's voice as he started to speak. 

'Levi, it's not your fault. You need to realise that.'

Levi let out a short of disgust and let out a undignified response of 'Yeah right '. 

Link sighed. He knew Levi could be a stubborn man when he wanted to be, it was one of the features that he and Nico shared. Link sent a quick thanks to which ever god had been responsible for placing him for a year with one of the most stubborn men known to man kind before crouching down in front of Levi. Levi's bespectacled eyes came up to meet his and Link noticed with a sinking feeling in his gut that the spark that usually had such a prominent place in those eyes seemed to have gone out.

'Levi Schmitt. There is plenty of opportunities for you to sit around and feel sorry for yourself but I'll be cold in my grave before I allow you to feel sorry right now.' Link could feel Levi's confused gaze gouging a hole in his skull but he kept on speaking. 'You need to realise that Nico would have had that seizure whether you were there or not. And I'm sure Amelia will tell you this later but even if you had been there, you couldn't have done anything to stop it. Hell, if Amelia had been there, she couldn't have stopped it and she's the head of neuro. So you can do Nico a favour by kicking his ass for me when he gets back from surgery for me okay?'

Levi have a small nod of the head in response, scared that if he used words, his body would betray him and he would break down even more than he had already over the last few days. Thankfully, Link seemed to understand without Levi and stood up from his crouching position in front of him, sat in the seat next to him and wrapped his arms around him, pulling him into his chest. Levi responded by taking a shuddering breath and nuzzling into Links chest. 

They had only been sitting like this for what felt like a few minutes but in reality was nearly two hours. During that time, both Levi and Link had been almost comatose, barely noticing if someone walked past. The only movement that came from either of them was when the elevator doors would open and both figures would snap to attention, their faces making it clear as to who they were waiting for. But each time, they would sink back into their chairs and wait for the elevator. 

Eventually, their prayers were answered and as the elevator doors rolled open, Amelia stepped out followed by a team of nurses rolling Nico out of the confined space. Amelia stepped towards the both of them and opened her mouth to begin speaking when she was suddenly drowned out by the sound of a group of angry people. They all turned towards the sound of the noise to find a situation that would have been funny under different circumstances. A pack of people was striding towards them headed by a tall Korean man and an almost equally tall female that Levi thought was European. Following this group was a flustered looking Miranda Bailey and a concerned looking Alex Karev. The pack reached Amelia, Link and Levi and the woman tapped ours sharp 'Are you Amelia Shepard?' All Amelia could do was nod her head while maintaining a stunned expression on her face. 

'Excellent,' the woman said, seemingly failing to notice Amelia's expression. 'We are looking for information about one of your patients that I believe you have just operated on. He's our son, Nico Kim.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm basing Nico's heritage off of Alex Landi's heritage, who is half Korean and half Italian just to make it clear why his mum is european.


	9. Chapter 9

Amelia had been the first to recover from the initial shock. That was one of the only things that Levi would recall when he looked back at this day. She had immediately jumped into action and hustled the family along to a private room to explain and calling back to Link to come and join them. 

Levi just stood there, shock and horror clearly evident in his expression as Alex moved into his line of vision with a concerned look on his face. 'Did you ring them?' Levi whispered, clearly too low for Alex as a blank look was displayed on his face. He repeated it, louder and with anger seeping into his tone and Alex nodded. Levi noticed that he had the decency to look ashamed of himself. 

'Why?'

'What the hell do you mean why? Schmitt, as much as it must hurt you to hear, you are not his family. We have a duty of care to Nico as well as you and we had a duty to inform the family of what happened.' Alex stated, arms across his chest, daring Levi to challenge him. 

Levi gulped and replied, 'I meant, why did you call them. Surely it should have been me. I mean I am his boyfriend. It surely would have sounded better coming from me rather than you.' 

Alex sighed heavily and Levi could see the answer forming in his head as he opened his mouth. 'Schmitt, I honestly appreciate what you just said, but it's been almost a week and you made no move to try and contact the family not did you give any indication that you were planning to. What the hell were we supposed to think? That Nico would make a miraculous recovery and be out of here in a month without his own family knowing. I'm sorry Levi but the seizure means that Nico can be classed as not being medically fit to make his own decisions regarding his health.' It was at this point that Levi opened his mouth to protest but Alex gave him no such opportunity, choosing instead to plow on with what he was saying. 'I know exactly what your about to say Schmitt, and clearly your not in the best state of mind to be doing any such decisions for Nico. Because if you were thinking straight, you would remember that hospital policy states that Nico would have to formerly declare you as his next of kin but since you are not married and Nico has yet to declare you as his next of kin I'm afraid any medical decision regarding Nico will have to be made through his family. Do i make myself clear?'

Levi nodded meekly, while attempting to blink back tears, not wanting to appear weak in front of Alex. Muttering a small apology to Alex, he darted off towards the toilets before tears started to stream down his face. He didn't know why it was such a big deal for him that Nico's family had come. It had been completely illogical if they hadn't been called considering the lack of Nico's next of kin in the area but the thought of someone other than him caring for Nico made his heart clench. It was selfish, he knew, but he would have to swallow his pride and accept what was happening. 

#####

Min-jun couldn't quite believe it. His little brother who never stopped moving, who you could hear coming from a mile away, was lying still in a hospital bed looking pathetically broken. He was hooked up to machines, half of which he didn't know the function of and they made his giant six foot one brother look like a child. 

'God I don't think I've ever known a time where he's been this quiet before ' Min-Jee whispered. 

'There was that time he was experimenting with different types of glue, decided to taste test them and glued his mouth shut instead,' Min-jun replied, watching his older sisters eyes light up as she laughed at the memory. 

'That's very true. God, did I enjoy that half hour.'

They were interrupted by a crashing sound outside in the corridor and watched as a young man stumbled into the room, red as a tomato and pushing his glasses up his face embarrassingly.

'Who the hell are you?'

'I'm Dr Schmitt, one of the doctors here.' 

'If your looking for one of your superiors, they're talking to our parents in one of the conference rooms. 

'Oh no, no. I'm actually just off duty at the moment,'

'Why are you here then,' Min-jee replied, suspicion clear in her voice. 

'I'm Levi.... His boyfriend.'

'I'm sorry then. I think you have the wrong room. Our brother has a girlfriend.'

**Author's Note:**

> Constructive criticism helps and hope you guys enjoyed it. Comment what you think should happen next.


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